Market Basket shoppers, workers support ousted CEO

OXFORD — Market Basket employees are showing their support for eight employees who were fired over the weekend, as well as former CEO Arthur "Artie" T. Demoulas, who was ousted last month.

And their loyal customers are doing the same, supplying more than 1,000 signatures of support since the story went public.

In a statement, Market Basket said eight employees were fired over the weekend because "their actions continued to harm the company, negatively impacted customers, and inhibited associates' ability to perform their jobs."

The eight people fired skipped work to attend a rally in support of the former chief executive. About 2,000 employees and others rallied Friday outside the company's headquarters in Tewksbury to call for Mr. Demoulas' reinstatement. The board of Market Basket was scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Monday.

With slogans including "I Believe," "We Support Artie T" and "Arthur T is our C.E.O.," Mr. Demoulas is being treated like a modern folk hero and a symbol for solidarity. His likeness was depicted outside and inside the Oxford store.

Brian Paige, manager of the Market Basket in Oxford, called the situation "horrible."

"Artie's a great man. He did a great job. He ran a great company," Mr. Paige said. "If it's not broke, don't fix it."

Mr. Paige, who personally knows Mr. Demoulas, said the longstanding CEO made a point to regularly visit the chain's 71 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

"Artie used to come in the store all the time," Mr. Paige said. "The first CEO I ever met that actually traveled the stores. Great guy. Great guy."

Although he acknowledges there is probably a lot behind the scenes at the corporate office that employees don't know yet, Mr. Paige insists Mr. Demoulas didn't deserve what he got, nor the way that he got it.

Mr. Demoulas was ousted last month as president by a board of directors led by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas.

Furthermore, Mr. Paige said, firing eight employees because they showed support for their CEO was a serious overreaction on the part of the new regime.

"These guys were great guys. They founded this company. They built it. They've been in the company 40-plus years," Mr. Paige said. "They drove the company. We take our cues from them. The reason why we are as good as we are is because of our associates. They take their cues from us managers, and we take our cues from our supervisors … we're talking top-of-the-line, grade-A, amazing guys who drove this company. They ran it. They are this company. They are Market Basket."

Monday evening, Mr. Demoulas issued his first public statement since being fired. "In the final analysis, this is not about me," he said. "It is about the people who have proven their dedication over many years and should not have lost their jobs because of it. I urge that they be reinstated in the best interest of the company and our customers."

Calling the current situation, "for a lack of a better term, a hostile takeover," Mr. Paige said the entire corporate office has been cleaned out at this point, and he said it's more like 20 to 25 employees who have been dismissed, and the word is "there's still more to come."

All Mr. Paige can tell his workers is to hang in there and see what happens.

"At first, it was give the new CEOs a chance. Let's see what they can come up with," Mr. Paige said. "Obviously, the supervisors that have been in the office working with these guys know more than we do. So, chances are they must have heard something or knew what was coming down and took a step up to stand up for us and the company and this is what accumulated from this."

Colleen Lussier said she comes from Northbridge to Market Basket in Oxford for the produce.

"The produce is one of the main reasons why I come out here, and (today) there's no produce. Usually, I come on Sunday and it's packed. So I had today off, so I figured I'd come. There's no produce," Ms. Lussier said Monday. "If just I'm feeling a difference from one shopping visit, you're definitely going to feel it each time you come."

If the decrease in product is directly linked to the CEO being removed, Ms. Lussier said, Market Basket has to get him back.

John Prouty of Charlton expects the worse for Market Basket.

"This market is far and above any in the area," he said. "People who work here are fantastic, from the youngest person in the bagging line to the oldest person you run into. I'm fearful that the ultimate ruination of the best market around might be afoot here."

"It takes a whole team to have a successful operation, like this store, for example," Mr. Prouty said. "When you start lopping off upper and middle management to cure a nonexistent problem, that's a problem."

David Dion of Dudley is also worried that the recent happenings are going to effect food availability.

"Unfortunately, it's the way business works today," Mr. Dion sighed. "But I don't think it was fair, no."

Mr. Paige said his workers are also "a little scared, a little worried, a little concerned" about what's going to happen next at Market Basket, but they are all still committed to their jobs and, more importantly, to their customers.

"People would love to shut down the company, stage some kind of huge protest, and I get that they want to do that, but ideally I'm more worried about my associates, my part-timers, my full-timers, my customers," Mr. Paige said. "We have to worry about the little guys, too. It's not just the upper management and middle management that's taking the hits. These guys are going to take the brunt of it. They're not going to have jobs to come into. Who knows what's going to happen from here on out. That's what I'm worried about."

Clark University professor of industrial relations Gary Chaison called the Market Basket saga fascinating and rare — workers protesting the loss of a boss's job in a case of corporate board infighting.

"But what is unique here is the exercise of worker power not directly in their own self-interest" but in the interests of their employer, he said.

That some workers have lost their jobs because of the protest actions and organizing will "certainly prolong the dispute," he said.

"This is rare, but will most likely end in failure. I am sure there are powers on the board that say if workers can, through demonstration, get the reversal of leadership decisions, where will this all end?"